Slowing down for Fall...

(plus a new pen day)

It has been a minute since I’ve written, but rather than taking up space and time to talk about why or make unnecessary apologies, I figured I’d just jump right in and write about what I want to write about. When fall rolls around, I am always so grateful. The humidity drops from the air leaving in its wake cool breezes, falling leaves, and mornings sipping coffee on the back porch. If you also live in an area with extra hot and humid summers, you know the relief that this brings. It almost feels like a physical weight has been lifted. I have always loved autumn. I have early, happy memories from this time of year. Celebrating my birthday, jumping in leaf piles that my dad would rake up again and again (we would even toss our basset hound into the pile and shriek with joy), snuggling under blankets… this time of year soothes my soul. I’ve also been experiencing a desire to be more intentional with the way I spend my time. I love to read and write and just be creative in general, but I find that too much of my brain space is consumed with media- be it YouTube, Podcasts, a television show, sometimes it seems that I just want something to fill up the airtime. But on the days when I shove every moment full of input, I find myself dissatisfied and when evening rolls around, I don’t have much to show for any creative efforts.

My family recently went out of town- just for an overnight trip, but this left me completely alone for 36 hours or so. I spend a lot of time alone already, while they are at work and school, and this is when I tend to do what I described above- filling up that airtime with input! While they were gone, I decided to conduct an experiment. I did watch some television and YouTube, but I also decided to shut it all down- no one TALKING at me- just music or quiet. And the mental and physical effects I felt in just this short amount of time were profound. I am not here to offer any sage life wisdom or tell you that you are doing anything wrong, but I want to spend some time this fall slowing down, being less distracted, and just enjoying some quiet. I’ve had so many things go wrong with my health in the last year that I have just felt drained and nothing like “myself.” I sometimes feel like I have been partially robbed of who I was before these things happened. And I have certainly lost track of some of my happiness along the way. I plan to use some of this quiet, peaceful time to reconnect with the things that fill me up. There is most certainly a place for media, good television shows, podcasts, and YouTube- I enjoy those things just as much as anyone, but I just don’t want to allow them to keep me from pursuing what I really want to accomplish by the end of a day. I want to fill at least some of my time with esteem building, creative, joyful pursuits that help me reclaim some of what I have lost.

Here are a few of those things:

• listening to my favorite music

• writing letters to my pen pals

• utterly devouring a good book

• taking a slow walk on a cool day (this is about what I can manage right now, and I’m trying to be okay with that)

• putting down my cell phone… or powering it down

• building miniatures or Legos

• writing for my substack (hey! fancy that!)

• painting with fountain pen inks

• talking to a friend on the phone (not texting)

• drinking coffee on the back porch… preferably while writing or reading- you get the idea, my friends!

In pen and paper news, I got my 2026 Hobonichi. I am actually still unsure of if I am using the planner itself- I have a few other options in mind, but in order for US customers to get planner covers this year, you had to get it as a set. So I bought this one to ensure that I could have this NEON PINK cover. I will decide on the planner part later. I should’ve waited for the new year to use the cover, but I didn’t, and I have no regrets. It was just too happy and vibrant for me to wait. I usually don’t filter my photos, but I messed with the brightness settings on this one just a tad to capture the neon-ness of it all! It’s so much fun.

And in pen news, I recently received the most mesmerizing pen from my friend Rhys over at Rhys' Pieces. Rhys calls the blank he created this pen from “liquid abalone,” a very suitable name in my opinion. This is a large pen, but it is not overly heavy. It is very well balanced and the nib writes gloriously. Best of all, this pen can be used as an eyedropper pen (but you can also use a converter). Rhys described some of the details that went into making this pen. I am not personally a pen maker, but I have come to understand some of what goes into it. As you can see from my photos, this pen has several demonstrator aspects to it, where you can see the ink sloshing around on the inside. When a pen maker creates these types of pens (with the clear elements), it takes a high degree of care to do the internal polishing. These pens take even longer than the average pen to create. The results, as you can see, are stunning.

This beautiful pen from Rhys is a treasure to me. If you are looking for a custom pen, I give Rhys my sincerest recommendation. You will enjoy working with him, describing a vision, thinking about colors, and in the end, receiving a beautiful pen to use for years to come. Rhys, thank you so much for making this pen for me. I love it, and I am thankful more than anything for a kinship that has come from ‘meeting’ you on Reddit that day when I saw your cotton candy pens! :) As always, thank you for hanging out with me here at Inky Thoughts. I’d love if you would leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite thing about fall is or what you do when you just want to slow down for a bit.